A Shoulder to Lean On
by AquamarineDust
Summary: Loke works for Lucy at her apartment complex. During one of his visits to his close friend Aries, he feels that her current housing situation is no longer safe after her multiple refusals to help. Living in the same place as friends old and new that love to meddle can create a sense of happiness and self-consciousness. No magic AU. Feat pairings: Lories, Nalu, Gruvia, Aqurio, Jerza
1. Moving Day

**Greetings newcomers and welcome back those who have read my work before! I hope everyone is doing well. This is an idea for a multi-chapter that I had and decided to give it a shot. This is an AU without magic, so the characters will have some slight changes to adjust for the AU but will still keep their personalities from the canon universe as much as possible.**

Miss Heartfilia poured over the paperwork running an apartment complex that was a branch for the company Fairy Tail entailed. Never once did she think that she would be a landlady, had she been told five years ago that she would be her profession when she was twenty-four, Lucy would have laughed. It was quite ironic, back then she was the one worrying about rent, complaining about plumbing and heating, and annoyed by apartment policies. Now, now she was the one enforcing them. Pinching the bridge of her nose, Lucy returned back to her work and began to sign away furiously at documents that needed her approval. It was not even lunch time and the paperwork was piled high, soon the phone started ringing.

Picking up the phone, Lucy answered, "Thank you for calling Fairy Hills Apartments, this is Lucy speaking. How may I help you," she inquired professionally. It was was a rehearsed speech that she gave on a daily basis.

"_Yes, I was calling to ask about your rates."_

"Oh, yes-" Lucy was cut off from her client when there was a knock at her office door. Lowering the receiver, she called, "Come in." It was her assistant manager, Leo Loke Lionel. "Morning, Loke. One second, I'm on the phone with a client." He gave her a nod. "I'm sorry about that," Lucy apologized into the receiver, "can you tell me what kind of room you had in mind so I know what kind of rates you can expect?"

As Lucy continued to talk business with the client on the other side of the phone, Loke scanned his eyes over his own clipboard. It was his job to help delegate tasks to the other employees of the apartment from Lucy and record any notices from the tenants or other staff. It was a rather routine morning so far, but he still needed to report the status for records' sake. He waited patiently as Lucy finished talking with the client.

"I see, well I'm sorry that we were not what you were looking for. Have a nice day," Lucy returned the phone to the docking station. "Hello again, Loke. How's everything?"

"Everything is fine," Loke stated, pushing up his sunglasses. "Here are the reports of this morning's status. Nothing major," he slid over the paperwork. "Is there anything you need me to do anything. I'm about take my lunch and might be back later than usual."

"Visiting someone, Loke," Lucy asked with a smile on her face, this happened on a semi-regular basis. As his boss, she was forced to keep a professional relationship with all her employees, but as his friend she took an interest about his life outside of work. Also, since it was almost lunch time, Lucy found it okay to have a more relaxed attitude.

"Well, yeah," Loke smiled. "I hope you don't mind. If you need me here, I understand." He took great pride in his work, cared about his friends as well, and made a point to check up on them as possible as he could.

"No, no, I can handle things here," Lucy said while secretly sliding a pile of unfinished paperwork under her desk with her foot. She really did not want him to worry, as she wanted the best for her friends. "Go on ahead, take your time. I know you don't to get this 'friend' as often as you like," Lucy said a little suggestively.

"We're just friends really, Lucy," Loke insisted, he laughed nervously. This happened every time. "But thank you, if you need me to come back early, just give me a call, Lucy." With that said, Loke walked out of her office.

Watching him leave, Lucy gave a small laugh, she was positive there had to be something going on between him and this friend he spoke so positively about. Her thoughts were broken by another knock at her office door. "Back so soon, Loke," she joked.

The door was pushed open, "I'm not Loke," answered Natsu Dragneel walking in.

"Natsu, I wasn't expecting to see you this afternoon." Lucy was pleasantly surprised as she watched the man walk closer to her desk, then around to her chair.

"What? Can't a man take his fianceé out for lunch?" Natsu pulled Lucy out of her chair and then into a kiss.

"No, he can. But what about your work?"

"Day off," Natsu answered. "We're good on staff right now." He worked as a fireman and his shift often fluctuated.

"Okay, let's get going then," Lucy grabbed her keys and followed Natsu out the door, rotating her engagement ring on her left hand.

* * *

Loke was driving through the town to meet up with his friend who lived on the other side. The differences between the two parts of town the further down the street he drove. The quality of the neighborhoods was decreasing and he sighed when he reached his destination: an apartment complex that looks like it has seen better days. He drove around looking for a guest parking stall. After parking, he walked up a few flights of stairs to his friend's floor. Seemed like someone had beat him to it.

"Look, I'm raising the rent. There are too many problems in this building and it's not cheap to pay for these renovations. You have a week," the landlady of this apartment, Karen Lilica. She gave a huff before sharply turning around, heading for the stairs. "Here to ask for your old apartment, Leo? It's been three years," she taunted.

"No, Karen. I'm just here for a visit." Loke briskly said walking past her and to the same door she was just at. He knocked three times.

It took longer than he expected for the door to be answered. "S-sorry, please don't tell me you're collecting early. Oh, Leo, it's you. Sorry, I thought you w-were… Never mind."

"It's okay, Aries. I just saw…" Loke trailed off, deciding to change the subject. "Can I come in?"

"Yes," Aries moved to the side to give Loke room to walk into her… humble apartment. It was nothing fancy, just the bare essentials really. It was not big either, it was just her living there.

"Anyways, I'm on my lunch break and was wondering if you would like to join me?" He smiled brightly and leaned against the kitchen counter. He waited for her answer, sometimes she refused, but when she did accept he was so happy.

"Well…" she wrung her hands together, bitting her lip, and avoided his gaze. Was she okay financially? Her hours at work had been rather short that week.

"Don't worry, I've got it covered," Loke insisted, knowing what she was thinking. "Come on, let me do this for you. Get your mind off of what just happened. Maybe a good meal will make you feel better."

"Well…" Aries thought it over. She preferred to pay for her own meal and normally declined his offers to go out to lunch when she was short on cash. "Alright, but I'm going to pay you back as soon as I can," she firmly said.

He let out a soft chuckle, he knew that she was going to say that, too. "Fine," there was no talking her out of it. "Come on, get your jacket and we can head out."

"Alright, I'm sorry for making you pay for my lu-" Aries began apologizing before Loke cut her off.

"It's fine, I don't mind." He placed his hands on her shoulders, "Really," he reassured, smiling gently. "Now, where would you like to go, Aries?"

"The diner," that was her usual answer. It was close by and casual enough for two friends in her mind.

"Alright, let's go. My car is down in the parking lot. He lead her down to where he parked, walking a little closer when some perverted tenants passing by them gave her wolf whistles and cat calls from their cars. It sickened Loke, he hated when such degrading actions happened. Even more so when they happened to Aries, she was shy and not someone who was particularly comfortable with flirting. As a result, he kept his arm wrapped around her shoulders to prevent any other inappropriate actions directed toward her. "Sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable," he whispered, "It's just until we reach my car." He was sure to keep his voice low so only Aries could hear him. Aries only nodded and continued walking with her head down. Finally they reached Loke's car and he opened the passenger side door for Aries to sit and later closed it when she was inside. "Buckled in," he asked before pulling out of the parking space and driving out onto the street.

A few painfully quiet minutes passed before Loke said anything. "Does… Does that happen a lot, Aries." He would understand if she did not want to talk about it, but he refused to stay quiet about the subject especially since he just witnessed it. If she was being sexually harassed, he wanted to know. The sooner, the better.

Aries looked out the window, back to her feet. "... Yes," she finally answered. The tenants that normally did that never seemed to stay at the complex long, so it was not always the same person every time. It made her hate walking to and from work, and even more so at night. She was just glad Loke was with her this time, because her reports to Karen always seemed to somehow get 'lost' whenever she sent them in. "I'm sorry, I sh-should have said something sooner. I-" whatever she was going to say next was stopped when she felt a sudden warmth over her hand.

"Don't be sorry," Loke told her, now driving with one hand on the wheel, as much as he would have liked to actually look at Aries as he spoke to her, he needed to look around for driving. "It's not your fault, Aries and don't let anyone make you feel like it is." The pad of his thumb began to gently rub back and forth over the back of her hand. "If something or someone is bothering you, please know you can talk to me about it. I don't want you facing these problems by yourself."

"Thank you, Leo," a heavy weight felt like it was lifted from her shoulders. "I'm sorry, but I don't want to talk about this anymore." Aries shifted in her seat.

"That's alright, Aries. You've already taken a big step in telling me about it." Loke gave her hand a slight squeeze before returning it to the wheel. "Let's change to subject," he abruptly said. "How's work?"

"Lously," Aries admitted, "my hours have been getting cut a lot. Gemi, Mini, and Scorpio all put in their two weeks not too long ago, so it'll be just me." She sighed heavily, talking about work had not lifted her spirits at all.

"I'm sorry to hear that," his voice was low and full of sorrow for his dear friend. Ever since he visited her today, it seems like nothing has gone right for her. "How are you going to pay for your rent," as he questioned her, Loke missed his turn and had to take the time to double back. His worry was only getting worse with the new information and the events of her rent being raised earlier.

"I…" Aries started racking her brain for expenses that she could cut. Nothing. "I don't know," her voice was scared and her hands began wringing themselves while she bit her lip.

"Aries… I can loan you the money and I don't care when or if you can pay me back."

Aries began to shake her head and the curls of her hair began to bounce furiously, "No, no, no! I can't take your money, Leo. I'll figure something out," she weakly said. "You don't have to worry about me."

Loke sighed heavily, knowing there was no way he could talk her into accepting the money, "Fine. Let's just have a nice lunch, okay?" He pulled into the parking lot of the diner. With a click, the engine of the car became quiet. Loke looked over to Aries, who looked scared out of her wits, "Come on," he began to pull her in for a comforting hug.

Aries returned to the hug for a moment before letting go. "Yeah, that sounds good." It might do her some good to forget about her troubles, even if it is only for an hour. She was about to reach for the for the door handle, but the door had already swung open. The shy girl was startled.

"After you," Loke held out his arm gesturing for her to go ahead. He waited for her to exit the car before closing the door. His eyes lazily looked around the parking lot, there were several people here for lunchtime. Families, business people, some college students. Then he spotted one looking Aries up and down like she was some prime cut at the butcher and had his two fingers raised to his lips. It seemed Aries had not noticed this yet, Loke had casually wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "Tad chilly today, isn't it?" She only replied with a small nod. When she returned her attention to what was ahead of her, Loke looked back to that college student who was now looking anywhere but their direction. He let go of his hold to open the diner door for her, "Ladies first. Table for two, please."

* * *

Loke made the turn into the parking lot for Aries's apartment complex.

"Thank you for lunch, Leo."

"It was no problem," Loke began to open his own door so her could go around to open Aries's, but she had already gotten out. "Let me walk you to your apartment before I head out." He would be more at ease knowing that she made it in safely. Observing the complex, he remembered how just three years ago it used to look so much nicer and did not have so many internal problems. "So see you again next week?"

"If you'd like. I feel bad about you making the trip across town…" that is what Aries said, but she secretly looked forward to the days when he would come over.

"It's not a bad drive, and I like seeing you. You are my best friend after all. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't check on how you were doing," Loke asked. They started climbing up the stairs. "Especially in this part of town," he mumbled to himself. To be honest, he often dropped hints that he wanted Aries to move out this complex and into a nicer one.

"Well… Thank you for always checking up on…" her voice fell flat. "Oh no…" Aries froze in her spot, hand to her mouth and shaking in place.

"What's wrong," Loke looked to where Aries gaze was and then immediately found the source of Aries's worry. The door to her apartment was wide open and by the looks of it, opened by force with the handle barely hanging on. He stepped up and threw his arm in front of her, "Stay behind me, Aries." He walked into the room first, it looked like a tornado went through it. Couch cushions taken out of place, coffee table turned over and broken, books and plates scattered the floor, television: gone. How could someone do this?

He felt Aries's two slender arms wrap around one of his own. "You're going to be alright." He carefully listened for any sudden sounds that would indicate if the intruders were still there. Nothing. He kept walking to the next room, her bedroom. It was no better than the living room, the mattress was taken out of the frame, the drawers of her dresser pulled out as far as they could go, clothes thrown about the room. "We need to report this." After everything that happened today, Loke decided he had enough. "Aries, after we finish the report, you're moving out of here."

"B-but where can I s-stay?" Aries whimpered, tears began threatening to start falling and her lip was quivering.

"You can stay with me for tonight," Loke decided. She was about to object to the idea, but he stopped her before she could say anything. "Look, after everything that has happened today…" he did not want her there anymore, "I don't think it's a good idea for you to stay here." He went beyond the limitations he normally set for himself and pulled her in for a tight hug. What if he did not stop by today? What if she was here alone when this happened? Who is to say that she would have been fine? Running his fingers through her hair was more to comfort him than her, just to let him know that she was still there.

"Alright, Leo…" she pulled away from the hug and began to wipe away the tears. She could not cry yet, there was still so much to be done. "Wh-what about your job though? Isn't your lunch break almost over?"

"I've got it covered," Loke unlocked his phone and began typing away.

_To: Lucy_

_Something serious came up. I'm going to be very late and not sure when I'll be back. I promise to explain everything ASAP._

He waited for Lucy's response.

_From: Lucy_

_Alright Loke. Take as much time as you need._

"It's okay, I can stay. Come on, let's go and report this." He lead Aries down to Karen's office. There was a place he never thought he would be at ever again. He knocked at the door.

"What?" Was the response that came from the other side of the door of Karen's office.

"There's something about your complex that I think you would like to know," Loke impatiently responded.

The sound of a chair backing out was muffled from behind the door before it opened, "Alright, what is it?"

"There has been a break-in in Aries's apartment. We've come here to report this."

"Seriously, a break-in? Great… No new tenants are going to come after this gets out."

"Anyways… What I really want to discuss is ending Aries's contract here," Loke stated.

"Leo, no. Don't…" Aries started pleading, but then stopped. Thinking about it, she was paying too much for this place and the quality of it seems to be falling more every few months. She did not have any hot water, the pipes leaked if water ran for too long, and if it rained really hard the roof would leak. Maybe it was time move out, but the contract had a whole other year on it. Early termination fees were often costly, she still remembered Loke mentioning it three years ago.

"What about ending her contract," Karen spat.

"Exactly what it sounds like," Loke said calmly. "Let me see her contract."

"Fine… Ramsier, Aries …" Karen opened her file cabinet looking for Aries's file. "Here, everything there is written in black and white. She still has one more year here before she can even think about looking for a new apartment."

Loke began reading through the contract, being assistant manager for Lucy, he knows what to look for. "So today you raised Miss Ramsier's rent," calling Aries by such a formal name just did not sit right with Loke, but this was business. "Tell me Miss Lilica, why is that?"

"To help pay for the renovations that need to be done. The pipes, heating, and the such," Karen claimed.

"I see… And these records show that her rent has actually been raised a few times in the past year." Loke turned to face Aries. "Miss Ramsier, has your plumbing or other facilities improve due to these rent raises?"

"No… They've only gotten worse, despite the reports I've sent in." Aries looked away from Karen's cold glare.

"Is that so? Miss Lilica, if the money has not been going towards renovations, where have they been going?"

Karen did not have an answer. Loke's eyes only continued to read through the conditions of the contract, hoping to find something that would result in an early termination. "Doesn't this contract have a security guarantee?"

"That's old, the guarantee, is no longer included with new tenants," Karen answered, smirking.

"Oh, so you have made Miss Ramsier update her contract to comply with new policy? Because I only see the contract from when she first started living here four years ago."

"Well, no I-" Karen stammered.

"So technically, Miss Ramsier is still technically protected by the security guarantee from when she first signed. It reads, and I quote, '_If at any point a crime occurs in the building, a tenant may terminate their contract at a reduced fee if they no longer feel safe. Examples: Vandalism, breaking and enterings...'_" that is where Loke stopped reading for it covered what they needed. He set the contract back down onto the desk and clasped his hands together. "So, how about it Miss Lilica, will you stand by your own contract that Miss Ramsier signed?"

Karen scowled and began to read her own contract, trying to find a loophole for the loophole. There was nothing she could find. "Fine," she threw the contract back onto the desk. "I'll let her pay a reduced termination fee, but," she paused, "_she _has to pay it." Her gaze returned to Aries. "No help from you since, one: you don't live here anymore; two: the two of you aren't married. It'll be 2500 jewels, half of your original rent from you first started living here."

Loke looked back to Aries, there was nothing he could do here. Worry began to sink in as he remembered their conversation from earlier and how Aries mentioned her hours had been being cut. Would she have enough?

Aries reached into her purse and pulled out her checkbook, flipping to the back to check how much she had in the bank. "D-does anyone have a pen," she asked to the room. She barely had enough.

"Right here," Loke reached into the inside of his coat and pulled out a pen and handed it over to Aries. He eagerly watched Aries fill out the check and smiled as she signed her signature at the bottom. To be honest, he had to resist the urge to tear out that check himself and hand it over. After Aries had handed over the check to Karen, Loke said, "Pleasure doing business with you," professionally holding out his right arm for a handshake.

Karen reluctantly took it. "Everything is to be moved out of that room by eight. Anything that is left will be either thrown out or sold," she stiffly said. "Now, if you don't mind, will you please leave my office."

That gave them seven hours to get everything out. That entailed a trip to the nearest grocery store to get boxes to pack everything in.

Coming back to ransacked apartment, Aries looked around, "So I'm finally moving out of here?" She honestly had mixed feelings about it. Even though she was relieved to no longer be under Karen's contract, but also scared because she did not exactly have a plan to where she would be living in the foreseeable future. Maybe she could move in back with her parents, at least until she could find a new apartment complex.

"Yup, so where would you like to start packing," Loke asked as he began unfolding the boxes from the grocery store. "Or do you even want my help here at all?" This is what she had to call 'home' for four years, she may have still needed time to accept what just happened all in one day.

"If it's n-not too much trouble, could you pack the books away, please?" Aries began walking towards her old bedroom. "I'll be in here," she said monotonously. There was one things that she was hoping that did not get stolen, maybe it got overlooked. Shifting through the wreckage, Aries managed to find what she was looking for: a humble box. However, it was in it that she was hoping to still be in there. Opening the top, she gave a sigh of relief, the little jewelry she did have from her mother and grandmother was still intact, along with the bundle of pictures and letters that she kept safe in there. That was the first thing to be packed away. From there on out, it was only clothes and the essentials to be packed.

"Let's leave the furniture, Aries," Loke suggested. "They're damaged badly anyways." Aries nodded, also looking at the damage. No sense keeping a broken in two coffee table, a bed frame with broken boards, the list went on. He started walking boxes down to his car, with Aries carrying the lightest, despite her protests saying she could carry the heavier boxes. In total there were three boxes. He closed the trunk, "You sure that's everything?"

"Yeah, th-that's everything, I didn't have much…" Aries looked down at her feet. Then she felt warmth wrap around her, it took her a second to realize that it was Loke hugging her again that day.

"Don't look so down, it can only go up from here," Loke put on a smile for her. "Things will be better before you know it." He lead her into the passenger seat, "I promise," was the last thing he said before closing the door and then entering on his own side. The engine roared to life after he turned the key. It was a quiet drive across town.

Once they arrived to Fairy Hills, Loke lead Aries to Lucy's office to explain the situation. He knocked on the door to the office. No response.

"That's odd, she's normally still in her office at this time. It's only half past four." Loke tried knockin again, there was… giggling on the other side. "She's probably with Natsu in there in there," Loke guessed. He knocked a little louder this time, "Sorry if I'm interrupting something, I'll just come back in the morning."

Then there was the sound of clattering coming from the inside of the door and muffled whispering of words that could not be made out. Then the door opened with, sure enough, Natsu who looked pretty satisfied. "Hey Loke… Who's your friend?"

"Natsu, this is Aries," Loke introduced. "We were hoping to find her an apartment here."

"Oh, the friend who you have been talking so much about? Lucy, it's for you. See ya at home," Natsu walked off.

"Leo, wh-who was that?"

"Natsu, Lucy's fiancé," Loke explained. He chuckled when he saw Aries blush after she put two and two together. "You'll be seeing a lot of him around. Now, let's see if we can get you an apartment here, then we can get you settled in." Loke walked in, "Hello Lucy, I hope you weren't too busy with me gone, but it seems you were in the middle of a 'break,'" he teased.

Lucy blushed and scowled, "Loke!" She straighten out her coat. "Anyways, what can I help you with?"

"I was hoping to get her an apartment here," Loke gestured toward Aries.

"Hello," Aries shy greeted, "I'm Aries Ramsier."

"So _you're _Aries," Lucy beemed. She had heard many good things about this friend of Loke's. "I'd love to help you out," she watched both of their faces light up, "but I can't. The last few open apartments were rented out after lunch. I'm sorry." Lucy felt so bad when she saw the smile disappear from both their faces. "But I might have an idea that might work for now." She opened her file cabinet and pulled out a file from the 'L' section. "Loke, your apartment has two bedrooms, doesn't it," she said opening the file and skimming its contents.

"Are you suggesting th-that Aries moves in with me," Loke stuttered out, a faint blush spread across his cheeks. He normally never lost his cool. He looked back to Aries whose face was pink as her hair.

"Why not? You know as well as I do that it's cheaper for two people to share one apartment than pay for two separate apartments."

"Well yes," Loke cleared his throat, "but I'm not sure if Aries is fine with this."

"I w-wouldn't want to impose…" Aries stuttered out.

"I wouldn't mind," Loke answered a little too quickly. He had to think of something to add, " You are my friend after all and you need help."

"Well, okay, but just until I can get back on my feet," Aries answered.

"Of course. Now Lucy, how do you want to handle this?"

"Well, there will be a slight raise to compensate for how facilities will be used more often because of the addition of one more person. Here," Lucy scribbled down the adjusted rates, "you two look it over and see if you agree with these rates."

Aries peaked over, the increase that Lucy had put was so much smaller than the rates increases Karen ever gave. All the same it still looked like a large sum to her, "I'll be sure to pay my share, Leo."

"Don't worry, I know you will," Loke said. Even if she could not pay at the moment, he honestly did not mind having to cover for her if he had to. He pulled out the same pen from earlier, "We just sign here," he signed his name down, agreeing to the changes. He handed the pen off to Aries, "Now Aries, you have to fill out a separate form that will officially make you a tenant here," he professional tone resurfacing.

"Geez, Loke, won't you let me do my job," teased Lucy. "I'm just kidding." She waited for Aries to finish filling out the necessary forms. "Okay, Miss Ramsier… Can I call you Aries? You can call me just Lucy. Everything is all set," she place the new forms in the file. Then she began ushering the two of them out the door, "If it's all the same to you, I want to get home," with one final shove the two were out the door. Lucy waited a moment, "Psst, Natsu."

"Lucy, we're still here," called Loke. Aries on the other hand was blushing furiously when she figured out what Lucy was planning. Loke could not help but laugh, "Come on, let's go home." Before heading to the apartment, they grabbed the boxes of Aries's belongings. "Here it is, our apartment," Loke opened the door, "after you."

"Th-thank you, Leo. I'm sorry about all this…" Aries began.

"Don't worry about it, Aries. I really don't mind. It might be fun having someone else around." Loke sat the boxes down on the living room floor.

"If you say so, Leo."

"Let me show you around," Loke decided, giving a grand tour of the apartment that was considerably bigger than the one Aries used to live in. "That door is the bathroom… That's the guest room, well I guess it's your room now. There's a bed, nightstand, and dresser that you can have… There's my room," he had to refrain from the urge to say something flirtatious like 'feel free to come in and join me anytime.' Aries was not someone who he can flaunt his playboy antics around, it would make her feel uncomfortable and change the way she views him.

"That's about everything you need to know for now," Loke decided, "I can show you around the complex tomorrow. But for now, are you hungry?"

"J-just a little," Aries answered, all this new information was a little overwhelming. With a nod, Loke walked into the kitchen to find something to eat. "Oh, before I forget, I need to call my boss and let her know I won't be able to be there tomorrow." Maybe she could use what was left of her money to buy a bus pass so she could still get to and from work.

Aries flipped open her phone and dialed her boss's number, it rang a few time before there was an answer.

"_Hello?"_

"Um, yes, hello Miss Angel. I'm sorry for calling so late, but I won't be able to go into work tomorrow. I'm sorry."

"_Why is that, Aries?"_

"Well, I've recently moved to the other side of town and need a little time t-to get adjusted. Like t-transportation."

"_Okay Aries, darling. You don't have to worry about coming into work tomorrow."_

"Really?"

"_Yes, in fact, you don't need to worry about coming in ever again. Business has been running slow and I need to cut people. Buh-bye."_ Without giving Aries a chance to defend herself, Angel hung up.

'Don't cry… Don't cry… Don't… cry...' Aries thought to herself, but it was not working as she felt two tears roll down her face.

"Aries, I found some leftover pizza, I think it's still good," Loke stopped in his tracks. "Aries… Are you crying?"

"N-no…" Aries horribly lied.

"Tell me me what's wrong," Loke wrapped his arms around her and pulled her head into his chest. It broke his heart to see Aries like this.

"I… I… I…" she cried, "lost my job." Soon she started crying harder. "I'm sorry... I c-can't help play th-this… month's r-rent…"

"It's okay, It's okay," Loke consoled. "I've got you. You're okay." He ran his fingers through her hair. "You've had a long day." He gave her time to let it all out. "Take your time," he said gently. Her cries later softened to small hiccups. "Feel better now?"

"Not much," she answered honestly.

"It's okay, you need time to adjust. Are you still hungry?" He waited for her answer, which came in the form in a small nod. "Alright, I'll go heat up some food for you."

The rest of the evening was quiet, but that was to be expected after everything that has happened.

"Well, good night Aries," Loke said.

"Good night, Leo," replied Aries before disappearing behind the door, holding the sleepwear that she grabbed from the boxes. After changing clothes, she climbed into bed and for the first time in a while, she actually felt at ease going to sleep.

**That was a long chapter, it seemed like it was going to much shorter before I started typing. Normally my average chapter lengths are 2k - 3k. **

**Planned pairing to appear: Mostly Lories and Nalu. Featuring Aquario, Gruvia, Gajevy, Jerza. Maybe some Miraxus, Elfever, and Bixanna.**

**Thanks for reading the first chapter. I promise future chapters will be happier and there will be future fluff.**


	2. First Day

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail and all related characters belong to Hiro Mashima.**

Aries opened her eyes and rubbed the sleep out of them. Something seemed off, the way the light came through the window was different. Looking around, she began to panic as nothing seemed familiar, then she recalled the events of yesterday. Taking a few deep breaths, Aries began to calm down as she remembered where she was. Also, that her clothes were in a box back in the livingroom. She gave a stretch before tossing the covers to the side and walking out into the hallway.

"Good morning, Leo," Aries yawned, walking to the box with her clothes.

"Morning, Aries," Loke replied after finishing off his toast. "How… How are you feeling," he asked gently, "Did you sleep well?"

"Better now," she said softly. She picked up the box with her clothes. "Thank you for asking."

"To be honest, I thought you would be sleeping in," Loke said.

"Oh, I just couldn't," Aries began explaining, "this is around the time I would be getting ready for…" She was about to say work, but she no longer had a job. "I would already be up by now."

"Okay," he rubbed her shoulder. "Do you think you'll be fine? I can take the day off if you don't want to be alone."

"No, no… I'll be fine." She insisted. Her plan was to get her belongings put away so they were not in the living room all boxed up anymore.

"If you say so, but let me tell you a few things about the complex before leaving," Loke gave a description of where the main things she would need to know were: mail boxes, laundry room, and a small market that was down the street. "That should be about everything for now," he glanced back to the clock, "I need to get going. I should be back around five."

"Okay, be safe," Aries told him as he left.

"Always. Later, Aries," with that, Loke was out the door.

The room fell silent with not another person inside. Aries decided to take the time to unpack her belongings. The clothing box that she was holding was the lightest and was the one she carried in first. In the room, she separated the clothing into two piles of clean and dirty. The dirty pile seemed much too small to do a load and she decided to take care of that later. Before moving on to the next step she switched into a casual outfit. The next box was her books and movies, slightly heavier but she was still able to carry it. For the time being, Aries just placed them on top of her dresser in an orderly fashion. Her nicknacks were last and she was careful when handling those. They were placed in front of the books and movies. Except for a lamb plush toy she has had for about as long as she could remember, that was placed on top of her bed. She did not care if it looked childish, it made her feel at ease.

"It feels a little more like home now…"

It took her about an hour to do all that and it was… Only ten O'clock. There had to be a way to fill up all that time. If Aries had known the area better, she would have gone for a walk, but she was did not feel like getting lost during her first day there. Her stomach growled reminding her that she did not have breakfast yet and should probably eat. However, there was a big surprise waiting for Aries in the kitchen.

"Messy," Aries exclaimed. The sink was piled high with plate, pots, and pans; the food that was on there had dried on a while back. "How has he been feeding himself if all his pots and pans are dirty?" With a very heavy sigh, she put it upon herself to clean the mess. "It's just s-so dirty. I'm surprise Leo hasn't made himself sick. Let's see… I remember unpacking it..." Aries walked back to her room in search of a certain article of clothing, "... It should be… Here it is!" she held up her apron from her job of waitressing. "Angel never said I had to give back the uniform. Only that I did not have to go back to work," she had a sly grin to herself.

Walking back to the sink, Aries began tying on the apron behind her back. "Now it's time to clean up!" She made a closer inspection of the dishes. "... I think I better let these soak in some soap water for a while." Sure she had her share of dish duty back at the restaurant, but none of them had ever been _this _bad unless one of the cooks burned the food to a crisp. She turned the faucet and let the water run and poured in some dish soap, waiting until the waterline just about two-thirds of the way up the sink.

Leaning her back against the counter and resting her hands on the edge, Aries felt something sticky. "Is that… coffee and sugar?" She looked around the whole kitchen, all of it needed to be cleaned. "I've really got my work cut out for me don't I?" The next half hour was spent wiping the counters, stove top and sweeping the floor. When she went to empty the dust pan, the next thing she discovered was that the trash can was filled to the brim with take-out food containers. "... Is that why his dishes haven't been cleaned? Well I better take these out." Except she didn't know where trash was supposed to be dropped off in this complex.

"I'm sure I can find it!" She said with confidence pulling the trash bag out of the can. Aries was almost out the door when a note caught her eye.

_Aries, here's a copy of the key to the apartment since I'm not sure when you'll be up._

_-LokeF_

"Loke" was crossed out.

_- __Leo_

A small bronze colored key was hanging on the hook right below the note. "Oh, I'll need this," she unhooked the key and dropped it into the front pocket of her apron. Turning the handle with one hand while carrying the trash bag in the other, Aries was out the door. "I wonder where it is," she closed the door behind her and locked it. She decided to walk down one direction and would hopefully run into someone that could point her in the right direction.

"Aries? Aries, is that you?"

She turned to where the voice was coming from, "Virgo?" When was the last time she saw her, high school?

"Aries, it has been a long time. How have you been? When did you get here? It must have been a while since you're carrying a trash bag." Virgo inquiring.

"I o-only got here last night, Virgo," Aries informed.

"Then why do you already have a bag full of trash and seem to know where to dispose of it?" Virgo unintentionally answered Aries's previous question.

"Well, to be honest, I had no idea where the trash was supposed to go, I w-was just looking for it. As t-to why I already have a full bag, it's Leo's."

"Okay, why do you have big brother's trash?" So Virgo still called Loke 'big brother' even though they we not related.

"I'm sort of staying with him right now…" This is the first time that Aries said it and still could not believe it.

"Oh, I did not realize you and big brother had that sort of relationship," Virgo assumed. "Should I call you 'big sister' from now on?"

"No, no, no. We're not t-together. We're just sharing an apartment," Aries said with her arms up. "C-can you show me where to put the trash?" She tried to change the subject.

"Certainly," Virgo said obediently, "right this way."

* * *

Closing the door behind her, Aries leaned back against the door for a while. That trip to throw out the trash took longer than she thought since it turned into an hour of catching up with Virgo. She needed a moment to recollect herself. "Oh, the dishes should be ready to clean now…"

The next half hour was filled with cleaning, drying, and putting away the dishes. It was noon, tired, she lied down on the couch. "M-maybe I'll just rest my eyes for a bit…"

The next thing Aries knew was that she was waking up on the couch. "What time is it," she gulped. There was no response from anywhere in the apartment, so Loke must have not been home yet. She ran into the kitchen to check the clock on the stove. "How did I fall asleep for three hours," she cried into the empty apartment.

Her stomach growled for the second time that day, "Oh that's right… I haven't eaten yet today." Instead, she ended up cleaning. Checking the refrigerator for food, the only thing that Aries could find was the pizza from last night, some jam, and half a loaf of bread. "I really don't know why I expected to find multiple ingredients after finding all those containers." She just made some toast with jam to tie her over until dinner. Dinner… What were they supposed to do for dinner? The only food in the refrigerator was not enough for two people, so she checked the pantry. "... Of course it's empty." She rested her chin on her fist, "Leo mentioned a market, I could probably go there."

She took off her apron and grabbed her purse. It was a bit of walk to the market, but that was because she nearly got lost looking for it.

'I don't have much left, so I need to budget carefully,' Aries thought to herself. She found a packet of pasta shells and thought that could be spread pretty far. 'Something else to go with this, maybe some pasta sauce…' she walked a little further down the aisle, 'Oh, that's kind of expensive.' It was not her first choice, but she ended up picking up a can of tomato sauce with slices. 'That's a little thin to go on top of pasta.' Aries kept looking through the canned goods aisle and found a can of mixed vegetables. 'I think that's all I can afford, I better go pay.'

She used up what was left of her money paying for the ingredients. The walk back was rather uneventful.

* * *

"Time to cook," Aries cheered to herself while setting the items she just bought onto the counter and tying her apron back on. "Now where's that stew pot?" She added water to the pot and set it on the stove to boil. After the water was boiling she added the pasta shells. Soon the tomato sauce to make a base for the broth. Then, the vegetables were added last. "Let's taste it… Needs salt… Tell me he at least has…" she opened what looked like the spice cabinet. "Found it!" Aries added a few shakes and give it another taste, "Much better. Oh, I hope he likes it…I've never cooked for him before." She felt her cheeks heat up a little. The blush died down in a few minutes.

The sound of the door unlocking was the next thing Aries heard followed by, "Something smells good in here." In came Loke with his coat slung over his shoulder, he walked into the kitchen to figure out what he was smelling. "Aries… You cooked?"

"Y-yes, I did. I'm sorry if you don't like it, it was a little last minute…" Aries started saying.

"No, it's great." He wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Though you didn't need to do this."

"Go sit down, the food is getting cold." She pulled away so that she could serve two bowls of the soup. "Here," she set down one of the bowl on the coffee table in front of Loke, who was sitting on the couch. "Careful, it's hot," she warned, before taking her own seat on the opposite side of the couch. Before eating her own meal, Aries waited until Loke took his first bite for his reaction.

"This is really good, Aries. Thank you," he said smiling and continued eating.

"You're welcome…" she softly said with a small smile and a light blush. She too began eating.

A few minutes later Loke asked, "Is there anymore?" He was already standing up and walking over to serve himself seconds and returned with a full bowl. "This is really good!"

"Y-you really like my cooking," she asked bashfully, looking down at her own bowl.

"Yeah," he answered gleefully. "This is the best dinner I've had in a long time. Thank you."

"Y-you're welcome," she continued to be bashful and focused her attention back to her food. The blush deepened.

Loke chuckled softly, and continued to eat. However, he looked closer to what was in the soup. He did not recall buying any of these and if he did, they were old and long forgotten. "Say, Aries, where did you find the ingredients?"

"I w-went shopping with the money I had left after I saw there wasn't much to cook with here…. I'm sorry. I just w-wanted you to have a good meal since you're letting me stay here."

'She's so cute,' Loke thought to himself, resisting the urge to just scoop her up and hold her tightly. Instead he just quickly finished his bowl. His thoughts were broken when he heard a _clink_ of Aries's bowl being set down on the table.

"Are you done," he asked. She nodded and he replied with, "Are you sure you got enough?" She only had one bowl.

"I'm sure," she got up and began to pick up the two empty bowls.

"Aries, wait, I'll take care of the dishes," Loke insisted. "You cooked, so it's only fair that I clean up." He took the bowls before there could be any objections. Though he could have sworn those bowls were dirty in the sink. "Did you also do the dishes," he asked in shock as he remembered how badly he let the dishes pile up and now the sink was empty. He set the bowls down and looked all around the kitchen, it was… _clean_. "Were you cooking and cleaning all day? I am so sorry, if I had known you were going to clean up, I would've came home earlier and helped," he hung his head in shame in his hands and embarrassment that Aries had cleaned up after him.

"It didn't take long, r-really," Aries told him. Well, not long considering how

"But it was my mess, not yours…"

"Don't worry about it, let me do this for you," she said softly and proceeded to give him a gentle hug. "You've already done so much for me."

"Fine," he rested his hand on the top of her head and wrapped the other around her waist. Though, he did reluctantly let go when Aries tried pulling away. "Did you do anything else today?"

"Well, I unpacked my boxes so they're not in the way anymore. Ran into Virgo and talked to her for a while, that's about it."

"So it was Virgo that saw you. I was getting asked by everyone if the rumors were true." Loke mused.

"Who's everyone?"

"Our group back from high school. Well except for Libra and Pisces, since they don't live here. Oh, that reminds me! You won't believe it, Scorpio and Gemini moved in yesterday. They were the ones that rented out what was left of the vacant apartments."

"How funny that we all gathered here all together," she giggled a bit. Loke laughed in agreement. She shuffled where she was standing.

"If you don't mind me, I'm going to watch some T.V. for a bit," he shuffled to the couch. "Care to join me?"

"J-just for a bit," she returned to the seat on the couch she sat at during dinner.

The two of them shared some laughs during the sitcom they were watching. Had small argument over whether or not to change the the channel when the show they were watching ended and went to the next program. Which was compromised with one episode of that program and the other getting to choose what they watched next with no objections. Loke took off his sunglasses and rubbed his eyes as they began to grow tired, but he was not going to go to sleep yet.

* * *

Loke cracked open his eye, the room was dark except for the light that was glowing off of the television. "I must have fallen asleep watching T.V. again. Better get to bed." Though he had difficulty getting up when he could not move his arm because it felt like it was being pinned down. Looking down, he saw it was Aries's head resting on his upper arm, "Aries," he was shocked, but kept his voice low to wake her up. "She must have fallen asleep to."

He was about to wake her up when she started whimpering in her sleep. "Please… D-Don't hurt me…"

"I'd never hurt you, Aries."

"...Get away…" Aries continued talking in her sleep.

Loke realized that she was not talking to him, "Aries, wake up! It's just a dream! Aries! Aries!"

She woke gasping and tears wetting her face. "It was just a dream…. It was just a dream… Thank goodness it was just a dream…" She felt that she was being pulled up.

"You're okay, Aries. I've got you… What were you dreaming about," Loke asked cautiously. He watched her carefully as the light of the television reflected off her face. Though she did not look like she was going to talk any time soon as she continued to sniffle and wipe tears out of her eyes. "Wait here," he returned with a glass of water. "Drink this, it'll help."

Aries nodded her head and took the glass, soon taking small sips.

"Think you can talk or would you like to wait until morning," Loke rubbed her shoulder while asking this.

"It was… the break-in… but I was there… alone…" Aries leaned closer to him.

"You're safe here," Loke promised. "Come on, let's go to our rooms and change to go to sleep. It's late," he helped her off the couch and turned off the television. Grabbing her hand, he lead her through the darkened apartment that he knew better than her. "Here's your room, Aries. See you in the morning, okay?"

"Okay, Leo." She walked into her bedroom. Aries felt around for the light switch, the light burned her eyes for a moment. Aries pulled out an oversized shirt and some pajama bottoms, pulled off her day clothes and threw them into the laundry pile. Immediately afterwards she changed into her sleepwear, turned off the lights, and crawled into bed. "It's okay, it was just a dream," she whispered to herself hugging her plush toy lamb to her chest.

She was not sure how much time passed before she got up and carried her pillow with her, leaving. Before Aries knew it, her legs had carried her to in front of Loke's door. "I can't believe I'm doing this," she murmured into the pillow. "Leo…" She knocked on the door and waited for an answer, when a minute passed and it seemed like there was not going to be an answer Aries turned to walk back to her room.

The door opened with some fighting with the door handle, "Aries is that you. Did you have another nightmare," Loke tiredly rubbed his eye while he answered the door with a yawn.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you up Leo. And you have work in the morning, I'm sorry." Aries's hold on her pillow tightened.

"No, don't worry about it… I wasn't sleeping…" he yawned again and leaned against the doorframe.

"Leo," Aries whined, "you're lying."

"Okay, maybe I was asleep, but not for very long. What brings you here anyways," Loke asked.

"Can I sleep with you." Aries asked innocently.

"Wh… Wh… _What?!_" Loke was choking on his own spit and slipped off the door frame. There was no way he had just heard what he did. Maybe this was really all a dream.

"N-not like _that,_" Aries shrieked, now more embarrassed than she already was when she realized the double meaning in her choice of words. "I m-mean I don't w-want to be alone r-right now… I'm afraid of the nightmare coming back. B-but if you don't f-feel comfortable, I'm sorry for asking," she heavily stuttered. "I'll just g-go back to my room…"

"You're fine… It's fine…" Loke cleared his throat. "You just don't want to be alone. Um… Uh…" he stepped aside so she could walk in.

"I'm sorry," Aries scurried past him.

"The bed is against the wall, so um, you can get in first," Loke could not be more thankful for how dark it was because he was sure his face redder than a tomato. "Ladies first," he tried to lighten the mood.

"Th-thank you," she tossed her pillow by the headboard and crawled underneath the covers. "I'm sorry for taking s-space in your b-b-b-bed."

"Don't worry about it. I have a double size. S-so don't worry about space in my… bed," his voice cracked on the last word. He Inhaled through his nose to regain his composure and exhaled. "Don't worry about it," he got in on what was his side, "Let's just think the center of the bed as a buffer."

Aries nodded but realized that Loke probably did not see it, "Okay," she yawned, "Thank you Leo…" Her eyes felt heavy, "Good night…" Her soft breathing was the only thing that Loke heard.

He watched her for a few minutes and then turned back to his side. He could not help but the conversations that he had during work…

* * *

"_Yo! Leo!" Aquarius called over._

"_Hello, Aquarius. How are you and the baby feeling?" Loke asked out of courtesy._

"_Bloated and the early mornings suck," she hissed and rubbed a hand over her belly that was beginning to show. "But better now that Scorpio is moving in now that he landed a better job on this side of town. You know, since I'm on maternity leave and all… I mean we talked about kids, but we thought we would have been married first."_

"_Is that so?"_

"_Yeah, but that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. You got a minute," Aquarius inquired._

"_I have time to spare, what is it?"_

"_I hear Aries is staying at your place. That true?"_

"_Yeah, where did you hear that?" Loke knew the arrangement was going to become known, just not so soon. He was sort of hoping that he was going to tell his friends instead not in the form of a rumor._

"_Well, I heard it from Taurus, who heard it from Capricorn, who heard it from Cancer at his salon, who heard it from Virgo. I don't know how far it's gone. So tell me, have you finally made a move on Aries and hooked up with her?"_

"_What? No! She needed a place to stay and I provided it," Loke claimed._

"_I see, so you're just helping your best friend," Aquarius said._

"_Yes, thank you for understanding," Loke said._

"_The best friend that you have been hopelessly in love with since high school," Aquarius continued from her last statement. "And I bet been wanting to have s-" she was cut short._

"_Watch what you're saying Aquarius, think of your baby," Loke dramatically said._

"_Yeah, yeah, yeah. Think you can handle yourself? I mean it's one thing to control your feelings when you see a person every so often, but when you live with them… That's gotta be tough."_

"_I can handle myself," Loke deadpanned, "You have nothing to worry about. Now, if you excuse me, I have work to do."_

"_Sure, sure… I'll be going now_

_That was also not the last time he was confronted about the matter, it happened all through out work._

* * *

"Good night, Aries," Loke brushed her pink bangs out of her face.

* * *

Loke was the first to wake up, "My alarm hasn't gone off… I can go back to sleep…" he turned to his other side and he had forgotten what was there. "Too close… Just gotta… Turn…"

"Hmmm? Something wrong," Aries groggily asked and let out a yawn.

"No I-" his alarm went off, "gotta get ready for work!" He tossed the covers, got out of the bed, and hurried for the alarm clock to turn it off. "Go back to sleep, Aries," he pulled the covers back up over her and quickly ran his hand through her bedhead before walking out of the room with a towel.

However, Aries could not get back to sleep no matter how hard she tried, between her internal clock and yesterday's unexpected nap. So she just got up and walked to her own room. "Maybe I should just get ready for the day… But Leo is in the shower right now." So she could not get dressed yet.

She heard the shower stop and eventually one door open and another close. Gathering everything she would need for a shower and quickly stopped by Loke's bedroom door to ask, "Are you done with the restroom?"

"Yeah, all your's." Loke answered through the door.

With that answer Aries showered, got dressed, and ready for the day. However, she was not expecting to see Loke in the living room in casual clothes when she walked out of the restroom. "Leo? I thought you had work."

"Got a text about half an hour ago saying I didn't need to go in today. When all of the apartments are filled, there isn't as much need for help filling out the paperwork and yesterday's inspection went really well yesterday," Loke explained while stretching his arms above his head. "Anyways, I thought you were going to sleep in."

"No, I can't sleep in very late. I'm too used to working," Aries said. Even when she had her old job, she could not sleep in more than an hour on her days off. "Maybe I should start looking for a new job…" she mused, if she was going to be awake during the day, her time should be spent wisely. Also, Aries wanted to be able to help with the bills as soon as possible and save money if anything urgent happened.

"If you're ready to go back to work, I can help you update your résumé," Loke offered. "But let's talk about work later. I know a restaurant that has a good breakfast menu that we can go to. Are you hungry right now?"

"I could eat," she responded and remembered Loke's near empty refrigerator. "Leo, when was the last time you went grocery shopping?"

"Uh…" Loke's brows furrowed as he thought about it and could not remember. He had mostly been eating out or take-out food. "Go get your coat so we can go eat. We can take care of the groceries on our way back," he nervously laughed as he nudged Aries to go get her coat.

"Okay, Leo, we'll take care of it later."

"Oh, by the way, the others want to see you tonight since it's been a while since so many of us been together. With you, Scorpio, Gemi, and Mini moving in." Loke put his hands in the pockets of his jacket.

"That sounds fun," Aries said as she put her arms through the sleeves of her coat.

"Great! Now let's go get some food," Loke opened the door and waited for Aries before locking the door behind him.

**Woo hoo! Another chapter done! I go back to school soon, so I don't know how often I'll be able to update chapters. Best wishes to all of you.**


	3. Past and Future

**Here's chapter threeee!**

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail and all related characters belong to Hiro Mashima**

"Is that everything from the car," Aries asked as she set down a couple of grocery bags.

"Yeah, I think so," Loke set down his bags. He could not remember the last time he had brought home so many groceries. Then again, he was shopping for two and restocking a scarce kitchen. "That should last a while, right?"

"It should…" Aries agreed, already filling the refrigerator with the cold foods. "We just need to be careful about not letting the food spoil."

"Okay." Loke agreed while putting away the food from the bags he carried in.

Aries looked at the cake that they bought to bring to everyone later that evening. "Do you think they'll like it," she asked. Really, she wanted a slice right there, but she knew better. Her finger was raised to her lower lip in temptation.

"Sorry, Aries, I think everyone will notice a slice taken out of it," Loke half joked, half apologized. "Otherwise I'd let you have a slice." He pet the top of her head, "But I'll have you know that Erza's cakes are some of the sweetest and things that are sweet are worth the wait." He smiled gently.

"I-If you say so, Leo." Her cheeks heated up a little bit. "Sorry, e-excuse me." Aries ducked her head and made a mad dash for the restroom. Steadying herself on the sink, Aries looked at her face in the mirror, the blush was not entirely noticeable, but she had to check.

Loke knocked at the door, "Aries, are you alright in there?"

"I'm fine, I'll j-just be a minute…" Aries squeeked.

* * *

"Okay, I got the text from Virgo saying we can come over," Loke said looking up from his phone. "Can you get the cake? And you already have." Loke said when Aries appeared by his side carrying the cake.

"Ready," Aries practically sang.

"Alright, let me show you where Virgo's apartment is." Loke lead the way and after a few turns they were at Virgo's apartment. He knocked on the door.

Virgo opened the door, "Oh, good, now everyone is here," she stepped aside to let them in. "And you brought a cake, let me take that to the snack table." Vigo took the cake from Aries and walked away.

"Aries!" Aquarius called and engulfed Aries into to a tight hug. "It's so good to see you. How have you been?"

"Oh, sure, you're nice to her…" Loke said.

"She's the one who walked in with the cake," Aquarius hissed. "Also, she's much cuter than you and I haven't seen her in a long time." She began rubbing the top of Aries's head. "Aries, your hair is so soft!"

"We came with each other, so the cake is also my contribution!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Aquarius finally let go of Aries, "So Aries, have you finally gotten yourself a boyfriend," she asked a little too loudly, turning a few heads of the others that were at the party.

"N-no I-" Aries began to tell Aquarius, turning a deep shade of pink.

"Aww… You're so precious," Aquarius giggled. "I'm surprised no one has taken you off the market yet."

"Me too," Taurus said, giving his two cents, "especially since you have a _nice bod-_"

"Taurus! That's no way to talk to a lady," Loke scolded.

"Yes, indeed," Capricorn agreed. "There is also more to a relationship that the physical attraction to the other person."

The group talked to the amongst themselve and at some point split off between men and women on opposite sides of the room, which was surprising since Gemi and Mini never seemed to leave each other's side.

"So Aquarius, h-how far along are you," Aries asked, trying to break the ice.

"What are you talking about? I'm not pregnant." Aquarius seriously said.

Aries had a moment of pure horror, "I'm sorry, I just assumed-"

"Pfft… I'm sorry, Aries. I've been dying to do that to someone and you've been the first to ask in a while. I'm five months along. Virgo is throwing a baby shower for me in three or four months depending on everyone's schedules. You're invited of course."

"Aquarius, that was not very nice," Virgo stated. "She just moved here and you already managed to horrify her while getting settled in."

"No, it's okay…" Aries tried assuring. "Virgo, th-this is a really nice get together that you made."

"Thank you, Aries." Mini raised her hand and the other three women stared at her for a second. "Yes, Mini," Virgo asked.

"Huh, sorry, old habit from school," Mini ran the raised hand through her light blue hair. "I just wanted to ask Aries why she was not in a relationship with Leo. I mean, it's totally obvious that she likes him."

"Wh-what are you t-talking about," Aries stuttered and she began to blush furiously.

"That," Mini pointed out.

"You two would look so cute together," Aquarius declared. "Yo, L-" she was cut off by Aries's hand.

"No don't," Aries begged.

"You mean you do not want our help with big brother," Virgo questioned.

"C-can we just change the subject," Aries pleaded.

On the other side of the room, the men were having their own conversation.

"Leo, have you asked Aries to be your girlfriend yet," Scorpio asked patting Loke on the back. "Aquarius and I would love to have another couple to go on double dates with."

"I thought I already told you guys that Aries and I are just friends."

"Really, because I'm sure you've been hit by Cupid's arrow for some time now," Sagittarius said.

"We're just friends," Loke tried assuring, but it was clearly not getting across.

Gemi just sighed and looked towards the women's group, almost wishing he had stayed with his sister. He'd just share information with her later.

Capricorn had strayed away from the group and was looking through Virgo's bookshelf. He pulled out one that caught his attention, "Virgo, is this your copy of our senior yearbook?"

"Yes it is," Virgo said looking up.

"What, I wanna look through it," Mini said. Since she and Gemi were three years behind the rest of the group in school, she never got a chance to look through their yearbook.

"Yeah, let's look through it," Cancer agreed. "I haven't looked through mine in since we graduated five years ago."

"Gather around then, everyone," directed Virgo, taking the yearbook from Capricorn and taking a seat on the couch. "Where should we begin?"

"Your guys' senior pictures," the twins said in unison.

"Alright," Virgo opened the book towards the front of the book to where the senior pictures were, the only pages that were in color.

"Oh, Scorpio," Aquarius cooed, "It's been so long since you bleached half of your hair to be red and white," she pointed at his picture. Now Scorpio's hair was a solid red.

"I know, I kinda miss it, baby."

"I can dye it for you again if you'd like," Cancer suggested.

"Nah, it's fine, I got other things to worry about right now," Scorpio placed his hand over Aquarius's stomach before placing a quick kiss on her lips. "Hey, baby, I almost forgot that you used to wear your hair short," he said pointing at Aquarius picture.

"I had to keep it short for swimming. Putting long hair in a swim cap was very troublesome. It was easier to wear it short then."

"I found you Aries," Virgo announced. "That's right, you used to wear brown ribbons on both sides of your hair."

"I remember now," Loke mused. "Why did you stop? It was very fitting for you."

"I guess I just grew out of it," Aries shrugged. Slowly after graduation, Aries wore her ribbons less and less until she stopped wearing them in her hair all together. "Cancer, I almost forgot all about your afro!"

"Ah yes, some of my best hairstyles, if I do say so myself," Cancer said. "But I like my cornrows right now. Who knows, maybe I'll let my hair grow back out one of these days."

"Hmmm… That is odd. I can't find big brother or Capricorn…"

"What? I know I went in for pictures," Loke said taking the yearbook from Virgo.

"As did I," Capricorn added.

"There I am," Loke pointed towards his own picture. "You probably just didn't recognize me because I wasn't wearing my shades. He looked at the other pictures, "Same for Capricorn, he doesn't have his shades in his picture either."

"That's right, I was told to remove my glasses for the picture. I assume you were told the same thing, Leo?"

"Yeah. Oh, look, there's Virgo and Sagittarius… You guys look mostly the same ," Loke told everyone.

"I do not," Sagittarius took the book. "... I guess I do."

"I cannot look that similar," Virgo took back her yearbook. "... I was mistaken." She looked for Taurus as he was the last one. "And Taurus still has that cowlick he can never seem to control... Let's move on to 'Senior Bests.'"

"I remember that!" Aquarius cheered. "Scorpio and I won cutest couple." Sure enough, when Virgo turned the page, there was a picture of Scorpio and Aquarius in a heart frame on the page with _Cutest Couple _written underneath it. "And we still are," she declared while hugging Scorpio's arm, very similarly to the picture in the yearbook.

Cancer's afro made a reappearance under _Best Hair_. Virgo and Capricorn both had _Best Dressed _for the girl and boy's categories_. _

"I'm pretty it's was the three piece suit is what broke the tie between Leo and me," Capricorn commented. "Don't be so bitter, Leo, you're in here."

"I remember, but it wasn't just me," Loke smiled. He was surprised it was not brought up earlier, but he and Aries were voted as _Best Friends_ and it was placed right next to _Cutest Couple_. Maybe it was Cancer's old afro that had distracted everyone. "Aries, do you remember taking this picture?"

"Yes, because you nearly dropped me picking me up from your unexpected piggyback," Aries answered, half seriously and half jokingly.

"Ah, but I didn't," Loke retorted. "And we got a pretty good picture out of it."

They looked through the rest of the 'Senior Bests',they knew most everyone that was in there. Like their friend Lyra that was voted _Best Musician._

"Go to the Freshman pictures," requested Gemi. "We want to see our pictures," completed Mini.

"Very well," Virgo took a few tries before she found the Freshman section. "Here you are." Gemi and Mini were doing back-to-back poses in their photos.

"We did things like that all our high school photos," Gemi and Mini said in unison. "Let's bring our Senior yearbook next time, Brother! That had the best one," Mini cheered. "Okay, Sister!" Gemi approved.

"What else is in here," asked Aquarius.

"Well, many of us were in clubs or sports, right," Sagittarius pointed out. Sure enough, he was right. Aquarius, Taurus, Capricorn, and Sagittarius were all captains to Swimming, Wrestling, Debate, and Archery; respectively, by their senior year. Gemi and Mini were seen again in the Drama club group photo.

"Say, let's all have a drink- except for Aquarius- to celebrate tonight," Taurus declared, holding a wine bottle. The others agreed, and continued looking through the yearbook, looking for themselves in the backgrounds of photos all the photos.

* * *

"Natsu, we need to pick an official wedding date," Lucy whinned. "We can't put this off any longer.

"Right now? We don't even know what's good for everyone," Natsu sighed. "Do you know where you want it, that would make picking a date easier. Like, I would not want a wedding in the mountains in the dead of winter or one on the beach during its hurricane season."

"Well no, not yet, I want a place that you'd like too. We should at least get some other decisions made so we don't have a million decisions to make at once." Lucy explained. It had been six months since their engagement and they had barely had anything finished, except for Lucy's dress. "Also, if we wait too long, my dress will be out of style," she complained.

"Alright, Lucy," Natsu straightened up from his seat on the couch. "Let's think of date, do you have a certain time range?"

"Well, I don't want it in four months because of Aquarius's due date," Lucy thought out loud.

"Then I don't want it any later because then her baby might cry in the middle of the wedding," Natsu added.

"So in three months or less?"

"Yeah. What else do we need," Natsu questioned.

"Well, have you thought of your best man or groomsmen?"

"I want Happy as my best man," Natsu declared.

"Natsu… Happy is the cat," Lucy deadpanned, while looking at Happy who was sleeping with the dog, Plue, quite contently.

"I was just joking. I was actually thinking about making my best man Gray. Sure we've had our share of fights, but we grew up together and is practically my brother. Don't ever tell him I said that last part," Natsu ended.

"Sounds like you really thought this through," Lucy giggled. "I was thinking about asking Levy to be my maid of honor, but she and Gajeel are already married, so really she is my matron of honor. Maybe Juvia should be my maid of honor, she has been dropping multiple hints that she would be up for the task. And if Gray is the best man, I'm sure she would be more than willing to accept the position."

"Okay, but let me ask Gray first. We don't want to end up disappointing Juvia if he turns down the offer." Natsu pulled out his cell phone and dialed Gray's number. He waited for Gray to pick up on the other end, "Yo, Ice Queen, wanna be my best man? Really? Cool, great. I'll send you the details later," he hung up. "Said he'd do it."

"That's great," Lucy gave a nervous chuckle, not understanding how Natsu and Gray's friendship worked when it was full of insults. "Why do you call Gray 'Ice Queen' anyways?"

"Because he used to beat me all the time in snowball fights as kids. Anyways, I was thinking of having Gajeel and Laxus as my groomsmen."

"You might have to find one more, or I'll have to narrow down my choices by one more."

"Who else are you thinking of?"

"Mira and Erza," Lucy answered.

"Hmmm…" Natsu thought of his other friends that were close to him, there were a lot to choose from. "What about Jellal? We've gotten much closer… Plus, I think Erza would secretly like it," Natsu smirked. "Have those two finally gone out or are they still beating around the bush even though they know how they feel for each other?"

"No, they've been beating around the bush," Lucy sighed. "Everytime I bring him up, Erza just starts freaking out and tries to convince me that there's nothing going on." A sly smile began to form across Lucy's face. "Let's keep it a secret for as long as we can. So that way neither of them can backout."

Natsu stared at his fianceé in shock, "Lucy… I had no idea that you could be so devious… I like it." He wore his own smirk. "Let's do it," he raised his hand for a highfive.

Lucy returned the highfive. "I'm sure you have been waiting for this question: what flavor of cake do you want?"

"Yeah, I've been waiting! I want red velvet," Natsu's voice boomed through the apartment.

"Red velvet," Lucy whispered, sure she liked it, but she had something else in mind. "I kind of wanted strawberry."

"Strawberry is good too, I guess," Natsu brooded.

Lucy did not want Natsu to give up what he wanted for her sake, there had to be something that she could do. "What if we had a three-tiered cake? One red velvet, one strawberry, and the top tier that we safe for our one year anniversary is marbled with both flavors?"

"Marbled," Natsu's confused face appeared. "Does that mean it's all hard like a rock?"

"It means both flavors are mixed throughout the cake," Lucy explained.

"Oh…" Natsu smiled, "Okay, Lucy, let's do that!" He scooped up Lucy for a tight hug and a kiss. Then another… and another… and another…

Lucy broke off for a second, "I'm getting the hint, Natsu," Lucy teased. "Let me just write down what we have decided and I'll talk to Mira about booking a place tomorrow." Their friend and wedding planner would be glad to hear some new information from the engaged couple. Lucy wrote down their decisions in her notebook, "Oh, and I'll also need to call Erza to see if she can still make the cake… Natsu, c-can't you wait two minutes," she asked as Natsu began to bury his face into her neck.

"No…" Natsu murmured, his voice deepening.

"I'm almost done," she teased.

"Fine," he watched Lucy make all her notes and waited for her to close the notebook. As soon as she did, Natsu picked up Lucy in his arms and started carrying her off, "Let's go have some fun, Lucy!"

"N-not so loud, Natsu," Lucy blushed.

* * *

"Leo," Aries whined. "I can w-walk… on my own," she insisted from on his back.

"No way, Aries. You're starting to walk funny," Loke disagreed. "Just a little further… You only had a glass and a half though, but you ate…" he was trying to figure out if she would be fine, he himself felt perfectly fine. Probably due to the fact he most likely had the higher tolerance.

"It was a strong wine… But don't worry, Leo… I'll be fine…" Aries began to rest her head between Loke's shoulder blades and tightened her grip on his shoulders.

"Yeah, I guess it was," Loke thought about the type of wine that was in the bottle, it looked a lot like one of the higher alcohol content wines that Cana had at her bar. His thoughts were broken when he felt a pair of hands running through his hair. "A-Aries, what are y-you doing?"

"S-sorry," Aries bleated. "Y-you're hair just l-looked really s-soft," she returned her hands back onto his shoulders. The alcohol had obviously lowered her inhibitions.

"It's okay, Aries," Loke told her. Even though he wanted to tell her that it was okay for her to keep doing it, that would be taking advantage of the situation in his mind and decided against it. "Alright, we're here," he knelt down so Aries could climb off his back and he could unlock the door and turn on the lights. "You might want to get some rest, think you can make it to your room," he asked, very concerned. Maybe he was worrying too much, but he could not help it.

"I think so, um, th-thank you for carrying me… You didn't have to though…" Aries played with the hem of her shirt.

"It's was no problem,however I need to get to sleep. I don't think Lucy will give me two unscheduled and unrequested days off in a row. You need your sleep, too," Loke advised for the second time. "Off to bed, see you in the morning."

"Good night, Leo," Aries said before walking with a slight sway in her step towards her bedroom. After entering the room and closing the door behind her, Aries changed out of her day clothes and into some pajamas. Her bed seemed extra soft when she crawled in.

There was a knock at the door, "Aries are you still awake?"

"Yes," Aries answered. Loke pushed the door open, but held his hand in front of his eyes after doing so. Earning a giggle from his friend. "Don't worry, Leo, you can look. I'm decent."

"Good, walking would be very difficult then," Loke joked before setting down a glass and two aspirin tablets. "In case you need them in the morning and I'm not here," he explained. "Sleep well," he bade before pulling her covers up higher.

"Good night, Leo… What do you think the others are up to now?" The two of them had left while some stayed behind.

Loke stopped in the doorframe and rested his hand on it and scratched the back of his head with the other, "Well, if I heard correctly, Taurus suggested 'Spin the Bottle'... I don't think Capricorn would let that happen though. Also, a lot of people were leaving, so his plan probably backfired." He turned off the lights, "But don't worry about it, just go to sleep."

'What if we had to...' Aries thought while raising her fingers to her lips, but her thought was never completed as sleep took over.

* * *

"Come on, baby, I'm sure you want to know," Scorpio insisted as he caressed Aquarius stomach. "It would make naming our baby much easier if we knew if it was a boy or girl."

"But I thought we agreed to keep it a surprise, darling," Aquarius settled deeper into the couch. "Aren't we going to keep it a surprise?"

"We are! If that's what you want, baby," Scorpio said. "We'll just have two names in mind then."

Aquarius stayed quiet, she really wanted it to be a surprise. "Well… Maybe I could go in for an ultrasound," Scorpio's face lit up, "but only to check if the baby is healthy. I'm over halfway through and due for another check-up anyways."

"Sure thing, baby, that's cool," Scorpio held her hand close. "Let's go to sleep, I'm sure you need your rest."

**Thanks for reading, I'll try to update as soon as possible since I have to go back to school soon.**


	4. Someone to Look Forward to and Care for

**I'm back everyone! Sorry about not updating for so long, but school has been keeping me busy. Anyways, I'm looking forward to the new filler arc that is coming up in the Fairy Tail anime.**

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail and all related characters belong to Hiro Mashima**

Aquarius sighed deeply in the doctor's waiting room and tapped her foot furiously. Scorpio and her had been waiting for over half an hour now, but that was not unusual due to the fact they had just walked in that morning without scheduling an appointment ahead of time. Of course, Scorpio was not going to point that out, Aquarius was not happy at the moment. The doctor's office had been especially busy that day, there were other couples in the room. All at different stages, some looking like they were still in the very early stages ranging all the way to looking like they could be ready to go into labor any day now.

A nurse opened the door, "Aquarius?"

Both Aquarius and Scorpio had looked up.

"The doctor will see you now."

Scorpio got up first and then aided Aquarius getting up. The two of them followed the nurse to the room where the doctor was going to meet them.

"Please wait here, the doctor will be here soon." The nurse looked at her clipboard. "But I would like to ask you a few questions about your pregnancy before she does."

"Okay," Aquarius responded and answered every question that the nurse gave her.

"Very well Mrs…" the nurse looked down at the clipboard for a last name and saw that Scorpio and Aquarius's marital status was not married. "_Miss_… The doctor should be here any minute and it seems you have been doing everything right so far."

Aquarius gave a very annoyed nod. There was a suffocating silence in the air between the three people in the room.

There was a knock at the door before the doctor let herself in. "Ah, Aquarius, Scorpio, how nice it is too see you again. How have you been? Any discomforts at all?"

"Fine, I've been fine and nothing has really changed other than me getting bigger."

"Okay, good," the doctor looked over Aquarius's file and compared it to the form that the nurse had previously filled out. "Well you have been doing everything right so far: not drinking any alcohol, staying away from certain types of food, not doing any activities that would overexert yourself."

"I'll admit it was hard at first, but it's getting better," Aquarius told her doctor. How she missed many of the food items she was not allowed to have, but did for the baby she was going to have. She also knew how Scorpio must have also missed eating and drinking certain things as he insisted to limit himself to the same diet she was restricted to. Despite all the times Aquarius had told him it was not necessary.

"I know it is," the doctor agreed, "I went through the same thing with my own daughter before she was born and my sister-in-law is learning the same thing with her future son. Which reminds me, Aquarius, you came in for an ultrasound?"

"Yes," Aquarius confirmed.

"We just want to know if the baby is healthy," Scorpio added.

"We can do that," the doctor said. "Let me take your blood pressure and check your lungs before first and we can get started."

"One question though," Scorpio interrupted, "Will we still be able to tell the gender if we see the ultrasound on the screen?"

"Yes and no," the doctor began explaining. "At this point of pregnancy it is possible to identify if the baby will be male or female, but unless you know what to look for, it is very hard to tell."

The ultrasound was completed without any complications.

"I'm happy to tell you that the babies are perfectly healthy, I would like to make a follow up appointment closer to your due date though. Just to make sure everything goes well." The doctor wrote down some notes about the appointment and checked off the appropriate sexes of the babies for the hospital's records.

"You hear that the babies are perfectly healthy, baby," Scorpio cheered.

"I'm glad to hear that the babies are healthy," Aquarius squealed, now in a much better mood.

Wait.

"Did you say 'bab_ies_?'" Aquarius and Scorpio asked in unison.

"Yes, you're having twins," the doctor informed the two of them. She had her own suspicions before the ultrasound because of Aquarius's size, but she was not going to say that outloud. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes… We just weren't expecting that…" Scorpio spoke up. "During the last one, there was only one baby."

"Sometimes one baby is hidden by the other, so it looks like there is one. Don't worry, you'll be fine, let me just go get you some pamphlets about what you can expect."

"O… Okay," he looked down at Aquarius who had been very quiet all this time. "Hey, Aqua-"

"Isn't this great," Aquarius asked, now with tears pooling in the corners of her eyes. "We always said we wanted a big family."

"Yeah, it is great and we'll be ready for when they come."

* * *

"So the two of you had decided on a date for your wedding," asked Mira

"Well, sort of, we have an idea that we would like to have it in about three months and we're having trouble deciding where we want to have it," Lucy started explaining.

"Also we're afraid of places already being book," Natsu added. "Do you think you'll be able to do this Mira? I know we've been lagging on giving you information lately."

"You underestimate me, Natsu. I can make the perfect wedding out of whatever is available to me. You've already called Erza about the cake, right?" Mira was sure to get all of her basics down. "Three months, it will be May by then. It may be possible to do a beach wedding then, if you'd like."

"I don't know, the beach is almost two hours away from here I don't know if everyone else would be willing to drive out that far and possibly pay for a hotel room if they choose to not to drive back that night." Lucy rested her cheek in her hand and her eyebrows furrowed.

"Oh, how about the amusement part," Natsu beamed, but was quickly shot down.

"Sorry, Natsu, but is much too late to book a wedding there," Mira started. "Well… I have helped on client do it very last minute, but it was a bit of a nightmare to be honest."

Natsu's expression fell.

"Also, you get motion sickness too easily, Natsu," Lucy patted Natsu's back consolingly.

"Yeah, I guess you're both right," Natsu sighed. "But I remember you mentioning that you wanted a fairytale wedding sometime back in high school. And that amusement park is supposed to be 'the most joyful area in the world.'"

"Natsu…" Lucy's voice became hushed. "I can't believe you remembered that…"

"Of course I do," Natsu had his arms crossed, "you were and are my best friend." He leaned in and kissed her temple. "So, tell me, do you still want that fairytale wedding, Lucy?"

"I… Yes…" Lucy nodded with tears beading in the corner of her eyes.

"That has to be the sweetest thing I have ever seen," Mira gushed. "I'll make this the best fairytale wedding ever," she declared. "I'm going to have to make some phone calls," Mira started dialing

The speed she negotiated in was incredible and seemed almost inhuman. Lucy and Natsu watched intensely.

"Well," the both asked expectantly.

"I got you in," Mira smiled. "Though it's a week later than you wanted, that was the earliest I could get for you, apparently they have a few events going on where they can't rent out certain rooms. But I still got you in," Mira smirked triumphantly.

"Thank you, Mira," Lucy ran up to hug the older woman that she saw as an older sister. "You're the best. Oh there's so much to do, we need finalize so much and then send out invitations…"

"You're absolutely right, Lucy. We must get started immediately!" Mira began to pull Lucy back into her seat so they can look at more binders and pamphlets. "Natsu, you and Lucy need to make some decisions such as food and other options that the park gives. I will only act as a tiebreaker," Mira explained and she helped the couple make their final wedding decisions.

* * *

Even if the sunlight was only shining in beams through the window shades, Aries felt as if though she might as well be on the sun. Her head was pounding and the obnoxiously bright light was not helping her whatsoever. She meekly pulled up the covers over her head and tried to go back to sleep with very little success. So instead she decided to just lay there and mentally curse that she would never drink on a light stomach again.

There was a light knock on the door.

"Aries, are you still in bed?" It was Loke on the other side of the door. Aries only groaned in response. Loke walked into the room to find Aries curled up under her comforter. He gave a soft chuckle, "I'm sure I know the answer to this, but how are you feeling?"

"Lousy, I swear I'm never going to drink again," Aries frustratedly said, pulling her blanket tighter.

"Oh, you say that now, but you'll forget the next time you're at a party or friends suggest going to a bar," Loke said nonchalantly, with his hands in his pockets. He had his own share of hangovers and 'vows' of never drinking again the morning of.

"Fine… I won't be drinking again anytime soon," Aries rephrased herself. "... Shouldn't you be at work, Leo?"

"You really have no idea what time it is, do you, Aries." Loke had to force himself not chuckle, but there was still a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Um… Right before nine," Aries questioned. That was when Loke went to work in the morning.

"Try again." Loke moved his attention away from the bundle of blankets that hid Aries and to her nightstand, noticing that the tablets and water was untouched.

"Uh… I don't know what time is it, Leo?" Aries was not in the mood for games.

"Noon," Loke stated plainly.

"What?!" Aries threw off her blanket, bad idea as her head began to throb again, and looked at the digital clock on the night stand. Sure enough, the big red numbers read twelve. "I slept the whole morning away?"

"Like a rock," Loke joked. "When I came to check on you this morning before work, I could not wake you up. Thought for sure by now that you would be up. Poor thing," Loke picked up the water and tablets, "Here, take these and drink plenty of water. It's one of the best things you can do for a hangover," he instructed.

Aries took the medicine and gulped down the water, she had no idea how thirsty she was until now. Deciding to at least sit up, Aries hung her head down and waited for the medicine to work it's way through her system.

"Anyways, I came back to check up on you," Loke started explaining, "and see if you were in the mood to go out for lunch."

Aries shook her head, honestly, anything other than staying in bed seemed like a pain at the moment. Her eyes remained closed.

"I thought so, I'll be back," Loke walked out the door with the empty glass and where was not known to Aries. Perhaps he went out for his lunch and be back after work?

She heard footsteps again after a few minutes and then smelled something below her nose. Aries opened her eyes and saw that it was some pieces of toast on a plate.

"Have some, you'll start feeling better after you have some food," Loke softly said, holding out the plate and placing the refilled glass on to the nightstand.

"Th-thank you, Leo," Aries took a slice of toast and slowly took a bite out of it.

"No problem," Loke brushed the hair out of her face as she ate. "I'm going to make my lunch, okay." He placed the plate on her lap. "But I'll still be here for half an hour, so you can call if you need anything." Normally he would stay longer, but Lucy was out so that meant he shouldered more work than usual today.

"I think I'll be fine," Aries promised. "I'm just tired." Her eyes began to droop after finishing off the last piece of toast.

Loke took her plate and smiled. "Then you better lie down and get some rest." Then Aries lied down, blindly looking for her comforter. Loke pulled it up for her and brushed her hair out of her face one more time, "Sleep well, Aries. You'll be better before you know it." He turned to leave the room.

"Thank you, Leo."

"You're welcome," Loke lightly blushed as his heart fluttered a little, he thought Aries was already asleep. If only she knew the affect she had on him. Loke left the room closing the door behind him.

Aries watch him go. "Wish you could stay a while longer…" she whispered as her cheeks darkened.


End file.
